Stamp Act Research Paper

The British Parliament’s first actions that could be considered to set the stage for punitive measures is the Declaratory Act that was debated and enacted in conjunction with the repeal of the Stamp Act. The resistance to the Stamp Act was widespread and had the members of Parliament concerned with whether it was treason or the beginnings of rebellion against the empire. The decreased trade that resulted from boycotts of English goods in part contributed to a depression affecting English merchants. As a result, the new leader of the Parliament Rockingham was faced with a situation where Parliament felt it needed to assert its authority over the Colonies while finding a way to repeal the Stamp Act to reestablish the flow of trade. The resultant

Even though the taxes were all considered to be external the colonists chaffed under what they considered to be unfair taxation. This resistance was less impassioned and spontaneous as the resistance which had occurred during the Stamp Act. In part, this was due to the weariness of the populace after the depression caused by the boycotts of British goods. Eventually in 1768 the colonial legislatures began to correspond and attempt to unify their actions in response using “circular letters” (Middlekauff, 2005 p. 156). Much like an incident that occurred during the Stamp Act, the reinvigorated customs service attempted to seize a ship, the Liberty, for carrying contraband. As had occurred before in reaction to enforcement of unpopular acts, a mob formed to prevent the ship’s seizure. Boycotts of British goods were put back into place much as they had been to oppose the Stamp Act (Ernst, 2012). An escalation that was new was the request by customs officials for British troops to occupy Boston, and the dissolution of the legislature in Boston by the Governor for their refusal to rescind their previously approved circular letter (Middlekauff, 2005